2017 Harley-Davidson Street Rod review

Harley's sportier new 750cc Street Rod might just be the sportiest model it makes.

2017 Harley-Davidson Street Rod review

Back in about 2012 when rumours first surfaced of a cut-price, smaller, made-in-India Harley-Davidson motorcycle that might even be learner-legal in Australia, there was sniggering aplenty.

The perception of such a thing was totally at odds with the all-American bad-boy image of most Harley-Davidson products, but the numbers have proved the doubters wrong.

And now, in 2017 when the Street 500 and 750 (as they became known) are the best-selling small-capacity cruiser-bikes in the USA, the Street 500 is the third-best-selling road-bike in Australia and Harley-Davidson has sold more than 35,000 of them globally, the sniggering has stopped altogether.

Now, Harley has taken the concept to the next level with a new take on the basic Street 750 that elevates performance and quality levels and should, says the company, take the Street range to an even bigger audience.

Harley-Davidson Street Rod. Photo: Kevin Netz Photography

Dubbed the Street Rod, the new bike uses the underlying architecture of the Street 750, but sexes it up dramatically. It retains the 750cc capacity of the 60-degree V-twin engine, the liquid-cooling and the fuel tank, but revisits almost everything else to arrive at a street bike that looks equal parts hot-rod and flat-tracker.

The detailing is a huge improvement on the earlier Street series bikes and there's much less of the built-down-to-a-price look and feel of the first versions.

The sculpted seat gives a sporty look and a female-friendly 765mm seat-height and there are now flat drag-bars and bar-end mirrors as racy touches.

Harley-Davidson Street Rod. Photo: Nate Hassler

But the other hardware seems much better, too. There are triple disc brakes bolted to 17-inch, multi-spoke alloy wheels and upside-down forks with a steering angle reduced to 27-degrees from the Street 750's lazy 32-degrees.

And while the rear swingarm is still supported by twin shocks rather than a monoshock, the new units are piggy-back (remote-reservoir) units. Final drive is by a virtually maintenance-free, and almost silent, toothed rubber belt.

The engine has come in for some major changes, too, all aimed at making it breathe better. Dual 42mm throttle-bodies have been adapted to the fuel-injection, the heads have been ported for better flow and a bigger exhaust helps at the other end.

Along the way, the compression ratio has been bumped to 12.5:1 and the camshaft has been re-profiled for more lift and duration, to the extent that the new engine revs to 9000rpm, a full 1000rpm up on the Street 750.

Harley-Davidson has never quoted power figures, relying on a torque number to tell the story instead. In the Street Rod's case, that number is 65Nm.

So what's it all like out on the road? The low seat means the Street Rod immediately feels manageable even though it's no lightweight by small-bike standards (and exactly when did a 750cc machine become a small bike?).

The wide bars aren't too much of a stretch although they do require you to check twice for clearance when lane-splitting. The bar-end mirrors are big enough to be meaningful and work well, despite many of their ilk being more for decoration than for seeing behind you.

But all that compactness does impose a caveat for taller riders (or shorter riders with long legs) as the Street Rod is seriously tight on legroom.

It comes down to chasing that low seat height while still giving the bike decent lean angles (by raising the foot-pegs) and the result is a bike that just won't suit those of an even remotely lanky disposition. You need to swing your legs and feet up unnaturally high to find the foot-pegs and this can make take-offs feel a bit intimidating for first-timers.

There's an innate balance to it and it feels neither top-heavy nor lazy in the way it initiates a turn. It steers very neutrally and there's no looseness or slack to be found in the suspension.

That mood continues in the engine department where the 60-degree twin reveals itself to be a real sweetie. Throttle response is sharp without being too aggressive and there's none of the snatchiness that can come with an injected V-twin. The 750 revs smoothly and while it will tag that 9000rpm redline, its happy zone is between 3000 and 7000rpm with no real need to rev it beyond about 6000rpm for most occasions.

It never feels scary-fast, but it can sure dice up traffic and while Harley won't comment, the power output feels like it's around the 45kW mark.

It spins up smoothly – but with that V-twin character – and there' even a bit of a spit and pop on the over-run that gives it more flavour and has you chasing down the gearbox just for the hell of it.

And it promises to be a decent long-distance bike, too, with 100km/h in the six-speed gearbox turning the engine at a relaxed 3700rpm.

The gearbox is never as slick as some of the Japanese stuff out there and first, in particular, engages with a bit of a metallic clunk, but the shift is accurate and smooths out as you ride it faster.

In fact, so does the entire bike and the whole experience simply becomes more fun the harder you push it refusing, unlike some bikes, to become rattled and fazed the more you ask of it.

The Street Rod is hardly over-braked, but the triple-disc set-up does the job easily and comes with standard ABS.

The only control we couldn't really learn to love would be the cable-operated clutch which has a heavy action and what felt to be a wide and indistinct take-up point. That can sometimes see you slipping the clutch a little on fast take-offs, although that's preferable for most riders than dumping the clutch too sharply.

While the Street Rod has clearly eliminated some of the nastier, budget-built aspects of the original Street 500, there are still a few quality grumbles.

Our test bike had a pretty elusive neutral that required a light touch to find every time. But it wasn't just neutral itself; the neutral light also failed to illuminate in about 20 per cent of cases even though the bike was, in fact, in neutral.

And the starter button sometimes failed to engage the starter. Then there's the immobiliser which emits a loud, high-pitched whistle every time the ignition is switched on. Not only did the remote key-fob sometime fail to disable the immobiliser, but the noise is enough to annoy the most patient neighbour.

None of this stuff is rocket science, and it doesn't seem enough for Harley-Davidson to point at the price-tag by way of explanation. Not when other bike manufacturers can get around these gripes and when there's plenty of competition even at $12,995 ride-away.

That said, given that all-important Harley-Davidson logo on the fuel tank, the keen pricing and the actual riding experience, the Street Rod stands to do exactly what Harley is hoping it will.

Certainly it's great fun to ride, is generally vice-free and genuinely feels like a higher quality product than its predecessor.

More than that, the Street Rod is the real deal and might just be a better sportster than Harley's own Sportster range.

2017 Harley-Davidson Street Rod Price and Specfications

On-sale: July

Price: $12,995 ride-away

Engine: 750cc V-twin

Power: 45kW (estimated)

Torque: 65Nm

Transmission: 6-spd manual, RWD

Fuel use: TBA

Harley's learner-legal push

One of the major reasons for the success of the Street 500 in Australia is that it's a learner-approved motorcycle in most States and Territories.

Those learner-approved laws are also the reason the Street 750 never made it to Australia.

But Harley-Davidson Australia is convinced that the new Street Rod version broadens the bike's appeal sufficiently for it to make a mark without learner-approved status.

However, what is also painfully obvious is that the Street Rod would do a lot better Down Under if it could talk its way into the Learner-Approved Motorcycle Scheme (LAMS).

To that end, Harley Australia has begun negotiations and lobbying the relevant authorities to have the LAMS amended to rule bikes in or out on a pure power-to-weight-ratio basis, rather than the concurrent 660cc outright limit currently in place in most States.

Under the 660cc limit, the Street Rod can't be learner-approved. Under Harley's power-to-weight method of classification, it would be.

Then again, so would the majority of Harley-Davidson's product range.

So why not just make a 500cc version of the Street Rod?

Harley-Davidson Australia would love for that to happen and has formally asked head office to do so.

But ultimately, it probably won't happen thanks to the fact that Australia is one of only three markets globally that currently sells the 500, the rest of the world having anointed the 750cc version as the chosen one.

Drive Comments

Selector 2 | 26 Apr 2017 08:28

Lipstick meet pig.

FairDinkumMate | 26 Apr 2017 15:00

The LAMS system should have remained limited to 250cc bikes under the required power to weight ratio.
Experienced riders will all tell you that as a beginner, you're most likely to get into trouble when needing to stop & therefore weight makes a huge difference. So it doesn't matter so much whether it took you 4 seconds or 6 seconds to get from 0-100km/h. What matters is that a lighter bike is quicker & easier for a learner to get from 100 to 0km/h.

Brian of Narangba | 26 Apr 2017 20:27

An American legend, made in China, btw HD and sporty should not be used in the same sentence

yarpos | 26 Apr 2017 21:36

Will it be like most other Harleys? loud and slow

ibast | 27 Apr 2017 00:49

FDM, Just because you have experience and think something, doesn't mean all (or even most) experienced riders think the same. As a rider of 25 years, high k, experience I think the LAMS system is much better than the 250cc limit. It is important that learners and P-platers can out accelerate care in the 60-100 range IMO and 250s don't always do that. I do agree, however, that there should be a weight limit in LAMS. Learners shouldn't be encouraged to maneuver heavy 4 cylinder 600s (for example). As for the Hardley, whilst I think it's too heavy for a 500 (as it's designed as a 750), it probable wouldn't be bad for learners as the weight is low.